Macmillan New Ventures Acquires Sapling Learning
Poster: SySAdmin
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 4:14:01 AM
Macmillan New Ventures Acquires Sapling Learning
NEW YORK, November 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Macmillan adds STEM interactive homework and learning solution to portfolio.
Macmillan New Ventures [http://www.macmillannewventures.com ], a technology innovation
division of Macmillan Publishers, Ltd., today announced the acquisition of Sapling
Learning [https://www.saplinglearning.com ], a leading provider of interactive homework
and learning software for the higher education and high school in the areas of science,
economics and other STEM disciplines. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Macmillan will preserve Sapling Learning's headquarters in Austin, Texas and expand
the existing team of 96 employees. Moving forward, Macmillan will provide Sapling support
to scale operations, and investment to extend into new disciplines.
"Sapling Learning has developed a powerful learning solution based on instructional
assessment and student progress monitoring that results in improved learning and
retention," said Troy Williams, president of Macmillan New Ventures. "Macmillan New
Ventures' mission is to find and accelerate proven technology solutions in education that
are making a real difference in the core mission of the educational endeavor - helping
students learn more and learn faster. Sapling has a product that demonstrably increases
student achievement in contrast to a lot of what we see in edtech - companies with
attractive features and software but no clear data that student outcomes are improving."
Over 800 schools and universities have adopted Sapling's online interactive homework
and instruction system. Sapling has experienced explosive growth, tripling sales last
year, and is on target for similar growth this year. Part of the reason for Sapling's
dramatic growth is the fact that a number of peer-reviewed studies have shown that
students who use its interactive homework solution experience from one-half to more than a
full letter grade in performance improvement.
"Macmillan New Ventures has been extremely supportive of our technology, vision and
our team. We're proud to join Macmillan and be a part of continuing their tradition of
delivering excellent learning experiences," said Dr. James W. Caras, Sapling Learning
Founder and CEO. "The students have always come first and with Macmillan supporting our
brand we can reach new students at a scale that wasn't possible before. For example, one
of our core features is that we are textbook-agnostic; Macmillan New Ventures will
continue to support and help us grow our efforts with other publishers, as they have with
their other portfolio companies that also work with non-Macmillan content providers."
Sapling is the second acquisition by Macmillan New Ventures in the past six months,
adding to a strong portfolio of proven, innovative education technology companies. In May,
Macmillan New Ventures acquired EBI MAP-works [http://www.webebi.com ], a leading student
success and retention platform. Sapling also joins i>clicker [http://www.iclicker.com ], a
leading student response system, and PrepU [http://www.study.prep-u.com ], an adaptive
learning platform, in the Macmillan New Ventures portfolio.
Macmillan New Ventures' acquisitions are part of a broader investment in start-up
business at Macmillan Publishers, Ltd., one of the largest and best-known international
publishing groups in the world and part of the privately owned media group, Verlagsgruppe
Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH. Under CEO Annette Thomas's direction, it's science, academic
and education group has invested in three innovation divisions over the past two years:
Digital Science, which specializes in providing software solutions for scientists; Digital
Education, which invests into and builds consumer-focused educational services, and
Macmillan New Ventures.
Macmillan's more established businesses - Macmillan Education, Palgrave, Nature
Publishing Group and Macmillan Higher Education - have all built strong brands and an
enviable track record for editorial excellence by taking a content-led, technology enabled
approach. It is the fusion of the disruptive technology start-up businesses with the
editorially rich established players that enables Macmillan to evolve its overall business
and fuel quicker access to new markets and new opportunities.
About Macmillan New Ventures
Macmillan New Ventures discovers and develops innovative and proven technologies and
new products that drive learning outcomes and engagement. Part of global media company
Macmillan, the New Ventures division pushes the boundaries of where, when and how learning
happens - teacher to student; student to teacher; and peer to peer. For more information,
visit http://www.macmillannewventures.com.
About Sapling Learning
Sapling Learning is a leading interactive homework and assessment software for high
school and higher education sciences. Founded in 2004, Sapling Learning focuses on
providing students with rich, discipline specific interactions to promote engagement and
comprehension in challenging problem-solving disciplines such as chemistry, physics,
biology, engineering, and economics. Sapling Learning is the only solution that provides
seamless integration of rich learning elements for both creating and learning scientific
material. For more information, visit http://www.saplinglearning.com.
Macmillan New Ventures
CONTACT: MEDIA CONTACT: Nathan Gandomi, nate@jones-dilworth.com, +1-510-999-6283
NEW YORK, November 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Macmillan adds STEM interactive homework and learning solution to portfolio.
Macmillan New Ventures [http://www.macmillannewventures.com ], a technology innovation
division of Macmillan Publishers, Ltd., today announced the acquisition of Sapling
Learning [https://www.saplinglearning.com ], a leading provider of interactive homework
and learning software for the higher education and high school in the areas of science,
economics and other STEM disciplines. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Macmillan will preserve Sapling Learning's headquarters in Austin, Texas and expand
the existing team of 96 employees. Moving forward, Macmillan will provide Sapling support
to scale operations, and investment to extend into new disciplines.
"Sapling Learning has developed a powerful learning solution based on instructional
assessment and student progress monitoring that results in improved learning and
retention," said Troy Williams, president of Macmillan New Ventures. "Macmillan New
Ventures' mission is to find and accelerate proven technology solutions in education that
are making a real difference in the core mission of the educational endeavor - helping
students learn more and learn faster. Sapling has a product that demonstrably increases
student achievement in contrast to a lot of what we see in edtech - companies with
attractive features and software but no clear data that student outcomes are improving."
Over 800 schools and universities have adopted Sapling's online interactive homework
and instruction system. Sapling has experienced explosive growth, tripling sales last
year, and is on target for similar growth this year. Part of the reason for Sapling's
dramatic growth is the fact that a number of peer-reviewed studies have shown that
students who use its interactive homework solution experience from one-half to more than a
full letter grade in performance improvement.
"Macmillan New Ventures has been extremely supportive of our technology, vision and
our team. We're proud to join Macmillan and be a part of continuing their tradition of
delivering excellent learning experiences," said Dr. James W. Caras, Sapling Learning
Founder and CEO. "The students have always come first and with Macmillan supporting our
brand we can reach new students at a scale that wasn't possible before. For example, one
of our core features is that we are textbook-agnostic; Macmillan New Ventures will
continue to support and help us grow our efforts with other publishers, as they have with
their other portfolio companies that also work with non-Macmillan content providers."
Sapling is the second acquisition by Macmillan New Ventures in the past six months,
adding to a strong portfolio of proven, innovative education technology companies. In May,
Macmillan New Ventures acquired EBI MAP-works [http://www.webebi.com ], a leading student
success and retention platform. Sapling also joins i>clicker [http://www.iclicker.com ], a
leading student response system, and PrepU [http://www.study.prep-u.com ], an adaptive
learning platform, in the Macmillan New Ventures portfolio.
Macmillan New Ventures' acquisitions are part of a broader investment in start-up
business at Macmillan Publishers, Ltd., one of the largest and best-known international
publishing groups in the world and part of the privately owned media group, Verlagsgruppe
Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH. Under CEO Annette Thomas's direction, it's science, academic
and education group has invested in three innovation divisions over the past two years:
Digital Science, which specializes in providing software solutions for scientists; Digital
Education, which invests into and builds consumer-focused educational services, and
Macmillan New Ventures.
Macmillan's more established businesses - Macmillan Education, Palgrave, Nature
Publishing Group and Macmillan Higher Education - have all built strong brands and an
enviable track record for editorial excellence by taking a content-led, technology enabled
approach. It is the fusion of the disruptive technology start-up businesses with the
editorially rich established players that enables Macmillan to evolve its overall business
and fuel quicker access to new markets and new opportunities.
About Macmillan New Ventures
Macmillan New Ventures discovers and develops innovative and proven technologies and
new products that drive learning outcomes and engagement. Part of global media company
Macmillan, the New Ventures division pushes the boundaries of where, when and how learning
happens - teacher to student; student to teacher; and peer to peer. For more information,
visit http://www.macmillannewventures.com.
About Sapling Learning
Sapling Learning is a leading interactive homework and assessment software for high
school and higher education sciences. Founded in 2004, Sapling Learning focuses on
providing students with rich, discipline specific interactions to promote engagement and
comprehension in challenging problem-solving disciplines such as chemistry, physics,
biology, engineering, and economics. Sapling Learning is the only solution that provides
seamless integration of rich learning elements for both creating and learning scientific
material. For more information, visit http://www.saplinglearning.com.
Macmillan New Ventures
CONTACT: MEDIA CONTACT: Nathan Gandomi, nate@jones-dilworth.com, +1-510-999-6283